The invention relates to a new use for N-(diethylaminoethyl)-2-methoxy-5-methylsulfonyl benzamide, commonly known as Tiapride. In particular, the invention relates to treating the depressive syndrome associated with alcoholism withdrawal and the like by administering N-(diethylaminoethyl)-2-methoxy-5-methyl-sulfonyl benzamide.
Pharmacological studies have been reported which show that the affinity of Tiapride to dopaminergic receptors is increased, when the receptors are sensitized. Tests conducted in vivo, using as a model, the turning behavior provoked in the mouse by electrolytic lesions of the striatum associated with lesions induced by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) have shown that Tiapride antagonizes such behavior. It has been shown that long term administration of ethanol produces hypersensitivity in the dopaminergic receptors. These studies were carried out by producing chronic intoxication by administering young rats with ethanol in increasing concentrations for 270 days and thereafter weaning the rats from the ethanol. Such studies showed an appreciable increase in motor activity in the rats after bilateral application of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens.
There has been a long felt need for an effective treatment for the depressive syndrome arising from withdrawal from alcoholism. Many possible treatments for such a syndrome have been proposed, but to date they have met with generally unsatisfactory results.